This is a rare review of one of the oldest existing Linux distributions - Conectiva Linux: "Conectiva Linux 9 is a modern, stable and user-friendly Linux distribution that achieves a good balance between power and simplicity, but is marred by some silly bugs and a lack of graphical configuration tools. That said, it is still worth evaluating, especially for Portuguese and Spanish users, for whom the distribution is really aimed at. New users will sometimes be confused or intimidated by the quirks left behind by the developers, as well as the lack of some graphical configuration tools, but overall Conectiva is still a reasonable choice to consider, especially considering its beautiful, well thought out default desktop." Read more at OSNews.

Conectiva Inc. was a Brazilian company which used to develop a Linux distribution for the Brazilian and South American markets. It merged with MandrakeSoft in February 2005 to form Mandriva S.A., with headquarters in Paris, France.

Conectiva has released a security and bug-fix update CD for Conectiva Linux 10. From the release notes: "Welcome to the Conectiva Linux 10 Update 1. This CD includes: official updates, installer with fixes, kernel 2.6.10 final plus extra patches, new NVIDIA driver 6629, new Mozilla 1.7.3, drbd 0.7.5, ALSA 1.0.7. This CD can be used in two ways - to update an already installed system with Conectiva Linux 10, doing 'apt-cdrom add' and 'apt-get dist-upgrade', or to install Conectiva Linux 10; simply boot this update CD and follow the normal installation procedures. The installer will use the updated packages and will ask for the other CL 10 CDs according to the installation profile. Due to installer architecture, you can also make a minimal install with only this update CD." The ISO image can be downloaded via BitTorrent (660MB), but it should also be available from Conectiva's mirrors within the next few days.

A new beta "Update CD" of Conectiva Linux 10 is available: "We just released the second beta of Conectiva Linux 10 updates CD. In the Release Notes you can find a list of bug fixes and updated packages; the most relevant are Mozilla (1.7.3), Linux kernel (2.6.10-rc1), NVIDIA driver (6629), alsa-lib (1.0.7), alsa-oss (1.0.7), the inclusion of drbd module (0.75) and updated user level utilities, as well as many other security fixes. The updates are available via apt-get, but the complete collection is now also available on a single ISO image, which can also perform a fresh install." Download (via BitTorrent): cl10updbeta2.torrent (673MB). As this is a beta release, you are kindly requested to report any problems to Conectiva's bugzilla.

Conectiva has released the first beta of Conectiva Linux 10 update CD. The Release Notes contain a list of bug fixes and updated packages; the more interesting ones are updates to Mozilla (1.7.3), Linux kernel (2.6.9), NVIDIA driver (6629), as well as many other security fixes. The updates were previously available via apt-get, but the complete collection is now also available on a single ISO image, which can be also used for a fresh install. Download via BitTorrent: cl10updbeta1.torrent (597MB). As this is a beta release, please report bugs to Conectiva's Bugzilla.

This is a new snapshot of "Clive", Conectiva's very own live CD: "We are proud to announce the first 'clive' snapshot, our development branch of Conectiva Linux, in live CD. Starring in this release: full final KDE 3.3, kernel 2.6.9-rc1, NVIDIA native drivers. Our representatives at aKademy, Helio and Boiko, are already showing this live CD with full KDE 3.3 installation. Now we have added the lastest kernel. This version boots in English by default." See the release announcement and the Clive development page (both links in Portuguese) for further details. Download via BitTorrent: clive-20040828_kde3.3.torrent (573MB). On a related note, Conectiva AS, one of the oldest surviving Linux companies in the world, is exactly 9 years old today. Happy birthday, Conectiva!

This is the first beta release of Conectiva Linux live CD: "It's based on CL 10 (hint: it's very stable) plus kernel 2.6.8 rc2 and squashfs 2. This beta is coming in two flavors: KDE and GNOME. Work in progress: support to save profiles; tools for remastering (just install your favorite packages and burn a new CD; a version based on CL snapshot. Live CD is a great tool to enhance the quality of free software. Think about thousands of users testing the new versions of KDE, GNOME and the kernel, without the need to upgrade or reinstall a system." Read the full announcement (in Portuguese) of Conectiva Linux live CD and have a look at screenshots. When reporting bugs or making suggestions to bugzilla, please inform product Conectiva Linux, version Live 0.5. Download: standard KDE 3.2.3 installation plus ConectivaOffice 1.1.2: livecnc_kde-0.5.iso (400MB), and GNOME 2.6.1 installation: livecnc_gnome-0.5.iso (252MB).

Conectiva Linux 10 has been released: "We are proud to present the new version of our operating system: Conectiva Linux 10. Conectiva Linux 10 is the result of several months of development and testing. With the massive help of the Linux community during the testing period, we finally arrived at the final version: a high quality product with an integrated desktop which is easy to use and appealing for both the beginner and the advanced user. Main new features of Conectiva Linux 10: kernel 2.6; hyperthreading support; support for Athlon and Pentium IV CPUs..." Read the release notes (also available in Portuguese and Spanish) for further details. The Conectiva mirrors are not yet updated, but the three ISO images are available via BitTorrent: cl10_cd1.torrent (644MB), cl10_cd2.torrent (682MB), cl10_cd3.torrent (684MB).

The final release candidate of the forthcoming Conectiva Linux 10 is now available for download and testing: "This is the last Release Candidate for CL 10. We expect to have the final CL 10 in a few weeks. Important changes since RC 2: added MPPE support; identifies Toshiba notebook and initialises it correctly; fix boot in HP Proliant 8500 systems; disabled PnP for Asus P4P800; enabled dpt_i2o module; backported several bug fixes from kernel 2.6 tree; added support for several softmodems based on SmartLink; KDE 3.2.3; added knetworkconf to Conectiva Control Center; remote boot configuration updated..." Read the complete release notes for further information. The three ISO images can be downloaded via BitTorrent or, in a day or two, from Conectiva's mirrors.

The second release candidate of Conectiva Linux 10 has been released. The most important changes since RC1 include the following: "Added some fixes to Kernel 2.6.5; minor fixes in KDE to deal with supermount, which seems much more stable now; more fixes in parted 1.6 to deal with kernel 2.6 changes in geometry handling; better support to XFS and JFS filesystems; fixes in detection of bootsplash resolution; new version of Samba, PHP plus fixes; fixes for GNOME 2.6; added Ximian Connector, an Evolution plugin for Exchange servers (groupware); support for SATA SIL controllers (Serial ATA); added support for Atheros Multibanda WiFi; included a personal firewall and config program in KDE's control panel..." Read the rest of the release notes, available in Portuguese, English and Spanish. While the Connectiva mirrors are being synchronised with the main server, you can get the 3 ISO images via BitTorrent: cl10_rc2-1.torrent (659MB), cl10_rc2-2.torrent (632MB), cl10_rc2-3.torrent (604MB).

This is the first release candidate of Conectiva Linux 10. From the release notes: "Important changes since beta 2: kernel 2.6.5; added full BootSplash support; KDE 3.2.2 final; more fixes in KDE to deal with supermount, which seems much more stable now; GNOME has been updated to 2.6 final. Installer specific changes: fixes to parted 1.6 to deal with kernel 2.6 changes in geometry handling; better support for XFS and JFS file systems; more bugs killed; PCMCIA fixes; wireless support. OpenOffice.org 1.1.1 final with Brazilian Portuguese help integrated (still under revision)." The complete release notes, also available in Portuguese and Spanish. At the time of writing, the Conectiva mirrors are still being synchronised with the main server, but you can get the three ISO images via BitTorrent (file sizes: 631MB, 646MB and 614MB, respectively). Bugs should be reported on the snapshot-users mailing list.